Re: Acronyms & Abbreviations--Just Say NO!

[eric -dot- dunn -at- ca -dot- transport -dot- bombardier -dot- com]

>>I dare you to write a networking manual without ever
>>abbreviating:
>>Copper Distributed Data Interface
>>Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection
>>Domain Name System
>>Fiber Distributed Data Interface
>>Integrated Services Digital Network
>>Local Area Network
>>megabits per second
>>Network File System
>>Network Information Center
>>Network Operations Center
>>Open Systems Interconnect Model
>>Private Branch Exchange
>>Point-of-Presence
>>Point-to-Point Protocol
>>Secure Sockets Layer
>>Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
>>Simple Network Management Protocol
>>Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
>>Wide Area Network
>>
>>among many, many others...
>>
>>=====
>>Goober Writer

I'd take the proof of the usefulness of acronyms and the silliness of avoiding
them one step further. In the above list, how many of the terms give you any
real idea of what they refer to? Readers unfamiliar with these terms will be
looking them up anyway, so does it really aid communication if they're looking
up Local Area Network instead of LAN?

>From the original post:

>>It is easier to type FYI than to type For Your
>>Information, so we do that even though we all get a curious interrogative
reply
>>occasionally asking what the heck FYI means (or YMMV or AFAIK or whatever).

But consider the thousands of readers that did NOT ask what it meant. Are we
supposed to dumb-down all our communication to the lowest denominator? Or, more
logically, should we just provide the resources/help to those that need it (or
politely point the lost souls to Google).

Eric L. Dunn



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